Prince Charles is famous for his passion for all things gardening but it seems the prince isn't the only green-fingered member of the royal family.

Equally passionate is the Duchess of Cornwall who today showed off her gardening skills as she planted a sapling during a visit to an arboretum in Gloucestershire.

Greeted by a cheering crowd of locals, Camilla was on fine form as she toured the woodland venue which recently opened a new visitor centre.

Green-fingered: Camilla is shown how to propagate a tree sapling during her visit to Westonbirt Arboretum

Despite her elegant pale ensemble, which included a a nude cropped jacket and a pleated cream skirt, Camilla was happy to risk a dirty smear of soil or two as she smilingly stopped to try her hand at planting.

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The arboretum, which is managed by the Forestry Commission, recently opened a new visitor centre to help it deal with the increasing number of people attending its Forest Live concerts.

Recent acts to take to the woodland stage include 90s rockers Suede, girl group Little Mix and veterans Boyzone.

While the Duchess of Cornwall might not have had the same impact on decibel levels, she did stop to make an equally well-received speech and officially opened the visitor centre before learning how to propagate plants from cuttings.

All smiles: Staff at Westonbirt looked thrilled as they showed the royal visitor around the woodland site

Afterwards, the Duchess was driven to Trowbridge, where she officially opened the new county hall before touring the building and meeting excited staff.

Later the Duchess' day will end with a glamorous trip to the National Portrait Gallery, where she will open a display of recent portraits by the British artist Catherine Goodman.

The artistic director of The Prince's Drawing School and winner of the BP Portrait Award 2002, Goodman's expressive portraits of family and friends are designed to reflect the inner - as well as outer - world of the sitter.

Notable subjects include film director Stephen Frears, author and broadcaster Daisy Goodwin, novelist Vikram Seth and royal photographer Arthur Edwards, all of which will be included in the exhibition.

The Duchess of Cornwall and the Prince of Wales are set to have a busy few weeks, with scheduled visits to Wimbledon and a pottery among the engagements lined up.

Next week will also see the royal couple visit Wales and spend a week there, with visits to a local cheese factory and a war memorial scheduled in.

Nice day for a speech! Camilla was on fine form as she made a speech to arboretum staff in the sunshine

Impressive: The new visitor centre was built to deal with rising demand following the success of Forest Live